THE CASE INTERVIEWING COMPANION

1
THE CASE INTERVIEWING COMPANION

• Presented by
• Clorox and the Anderson Marketing Association
• Jon Schlesinger, Brand Manager Clorox Bleach
• Steve Mitrakos, Brand Manager, Clorox 2
• Ritch Viola, AMM, Pine Sol

2
WHY CASE QUESTIONS?

• Case questions provide companies an opportunity
  to evaluate your . . .
• . . . Strategic thinking/analytical skills
• . . . General understanding of marketing
  concepts
• . . . Communication skills
• . . . Ability to think on your feet

3
GENERAL TIPS

• There is no right answer
• Ask questions/state assumptions
• Follow the 3 Cs
• Clear
• Concise
• Complete
• Go beyond text book answers

4
SAMPLE QUESTIONS

• New Product Launch
• If you were to launch to new product, what are
  the most critical issues to ensure its success?
• You are charged with marketing a candy bar in the
  U.S. which has been very successful in England.
  What things should you consider in bringing the
  product to the U.S, market?
• You are a Brand Manager at Nabisco and your boss
  stops by your office to tell you his kids were
  going crazy at a weekend picnic over beets. He
  wants to know if Nabisco should enter the beet
  market. How would you approach this question?
• Give me an example of a recent new product launch
  that you think was done well.

5
NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH

• Always start with the consumer. Do consumers
  want/need this product?
• Assess the opportunity
• Size of the market
• Competition
• Estimate your market share
• Cost/Ease of entry (capital investment,branding,
  distribution, etc.)
• Choose your consumer target
• Determine your positioning. Choose one singular
  benefit that you intend to deliver to your target
  consumers. Positioning should be differentiating
  vs. competition
• Determine marketing strategy for new product
• Price Set to reflect positioning (premium,
  popular,or value) and drive profit
• Product Which attributes will you offer
  (flavor, size, etc.)? Offer what consumers want.
• Promotion How will you create awareness and
  trial for product? Advertising, coupons,
  sampling, demos, etc.
• Placement Where will consumers buy it?
  Grocery, Mass Merchandisers, Club Stores, etc.

6
SAMPLE QUESTIONS (cont.)

• Declining Sales
• You have just been named Brand Manager of Pine
  Sol. Your sales are declining considerably.
  What questions should you ask to understand what
  is going on?
• What would you do to reverse the decline?
• What would you do to reverse the above decline is
  you could not increase your promotional budget?
• You are the Brand Manager on a product whose
  sales have been flat for the last five years.
  However, the brands market share has been
  growing at about 3 a year. What is going on
  with the brand and what should you do about it?

7
DECLINING SALES

• Is the decline driven by a general category
  decline or a share decline on my brand? These
  drivers lead to very different strategies.
• If category is declining, determine strategy to
  increase category usage. Encourage consumers to
  use your product more frequently or use more per
  occasion.
• Clorox Bleach For whiter whites, use a full
  cup. Alternate uses (cleaning trash can,
  pouring down drain, etc.)
• Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe dissemination,
  Hidden Valley Singles launch
• If share is declining, determine why (explore
  4Ps)
• Price Has my price changed relative to
  competition?
• Product Has the quality of my product changed?
  Any competitive product upgrades/new product
  launches?
• Promotion Have my promotions.advertising
  changed or decreased? Any new competitive
  promotions/advertising?
• Placement Have I lost any distribution? Have
  competitors gained distribution?
• Determine strategy to reverse share decline
• Price change
• Product upgrade/new product launch
• New advertising/increased promotions spending
• Distribution drive

8
SAMPLE QUESTIONS (cont.)

• Advertising questions
• Please give me an example of effective
  advertising?
• Please give me an example of ineffective
  advertising?
• Here is a print ad. Please evaluate it for me?

9
EVALUATING ADVERTISING

• Does the ad breakthrough the clutter? Have
  stopping power?
• What is your net takeaway from the ad (what does
  it tell you)?
• Is the advertising message single-minded, easily
  understood, and credible?
• Is this message relevant.compelling to the
  brands target? Is this message ownable by the
  brand or could nay brand deliver this message?
• Will consumers recall the brand that was
  advertised?

10
DEFENDING AGAINST A NEW COMPETITOR

• Assess the threat to determine whether or not you
  need to defend.
• Does the new product meet a consumer need?
• How strong is the competitor? Will they spend to
  support the launch? Are they smart marketers?
• Where will they take volume from? Are they
  targeting you or your competitor?
• Should you decide it is necessary to defend, here
  are some strategies to consider
• Reinforce equity with advertising. Remind
  consumers why your product is better than new
  competitor dont give them a reason to try/
• Product upgrade to provide a new benefit never
  give consumers a product based reason to switch
  (example Downy recently launched Premium Care
  which reduces wrinkles, Snuggles has added
  wrinkle reduction claim to packaging).
• Load consumers. Provide price incentives so
  consumers will be stocked up with your product
  when competitor launches.
• Track new competitors performance after launch.

11
PRICING

• Positioning Always choose a price that reflects
  your brands positioning. If a premium-quality
  positioning is sought, a premium price is likely
  to enhance the positioning. Conversely, if your
  brand is a value brand (Joy, Luvs, Budget Gourmet
  Frozen dinners), your price must reflect this
  positioning.
• Elasticity Elasticity tells you how responsive
  your brands slaes are to changes in price. Use
  elasticity to analyze how pricing changes will
  impact your brands volume and profit.
• Cost Structure Always consider costs when
  analyzing pricing. Clearly, a brand must ensure
  revenues exceed costs and the brand is profitable
  (an obvious point, but often forgotten)

12
PRIVATE LABEL COMPETITION

• Build your equity Use advertising to
  communicate quality/image of branded products to
  consumers. Establish a point of difference vs.
  Private Label.
• Example Clorox Bleach Wannabes campaign
• Manage the price gap Determine how much of a
  premium you can afford to charge before your
  brand starts losing volume to private label (in
  essence, what is the value of your brand to
  consumers).
• Introduce a value brand Larger companies that
  have more than one brand competing in a given
  category could position one brand as a value
  brand to compete against private label. This
  offers consumers a branded option at a lower
  price.
• Example A few years ago, PG repositioned Joy
  as a value brand.

13
CREATIVITY/MARKETING KNOWLEDGE

• Key success factors are quick thinking,
  creativity, and good marketing intuition
• Best ways to prepare
• Read industry magazines (Ad Age, Brandweek)
  books
• Store visits
• Pay attention to advertising

14
SAMPLE QUESTIONS (cont.)

• Pricing
• You are launching a new product and you have to
  determine its pricing strategy. How will you do
  this?
• You are the Brand Manager of Formula 409. Your
  boss tells you to evaluate a price increase as
  she wants to increase the profitability of your
  business. Should you do it?
• You are the Brand Manager of Tide. Your boss
  asks you to evaluate a price decrease as he wants
  you to increase volume. Should you do it?

15
SAMPLE QUESTIONS (cont.)

• Defending against a new competitor
• You are the Brand Manager of Fresh Step Cat
  Litter. You learn that 2 new competitors are
  entering your category Arm Hammer Cat Litter
  and EverFresh Activated Charcoal cat litter.
  What should you do?
• You are the Brand Manager of Kingsford Charcoal.
  Gas grill usage is substantially increasing which
  is causing charcoal usage to decline. What
  should you do?